


Prom Night

by orphan_account



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-19
Updated: 2012-06-19
Packaged: 2017-11-08 03:11:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/438492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Graveyard shift reminisce about their prom nights, and Greg lets slip a little too much information</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prom Night

The Graveyard shift were having a slow night, so they were in the break room, having one of their conversations about totally random and bizarre things. Currently, the topic was high school, namely: prom. "I hated prom, but my friend set me up with some guy so I'd have to go," Sarah said from where she was sat at the table, a veggie burger on a plate in front of her; Warrick had gone and gotten food. Catherine raised an eyebrow, swallowing her mouthful of chicken burger.

"What was the guy like?" she asked curiously. Sara grimaced.

"Halfway through puberty, pimples all over his face, huge glasses, braces, and spent the whole night telling me about how his pet iguana had babies and then ate them," she replied, and everyone in the room winced in sympathy. Greg vaguely remembered a guy like that at his school. Obviously every class had one of some kind.

"Damn," Warrick muttered, shaking his head with a grin on his face.

"What about you? Who'd you go with?" Sara asked him challengingly.

"Cheerleader, I bet," Nick remarked from his position on the couch, his half-eaten burger and fries on his lap. Warrick snorted. Greg grinned from where he was laying upside down on the couch next to Nick, his back resting on the seat, legs bent on the back and curled round, as the wall was in the way, with Nick's head leaning against the crook of his knee. Nick's free hand was absently playing with the blonde tips of Greg's hair, and the ex-lab rat didn't think his friend realized he was doing it. It felt nice; Greg loved having his hair played with, so he wasn't going to tell Nick he was doing it just yet. Besides, it wasn't all the time he had his secret love interest of six years with his hand in his hair. Greg imagined it was something they might do if they were dating; curl up on the couch together with Nick's hand carding through Greg's hair as they watched TV, or read books. But, sadly, Nick would never go for a guy like him, so imagining was as close as Greg was going to get.

"No way. I was such a geek in high school, I went with a girl who was part of the debating team. She was kinda cute, a redhead, short, nice rack. But she did not shut up! I swear, I got about five words in when she took a drink, that's it," he told them, and Nick laughed at his friend's misfortune.

"Unlucky, man. My prom wasn't so bad. My mom insisted taking tons of pictures of me and my date beforehand, and I spent the whole night being the typical closet case. My date was one of my friends who only went with me because her dad wouldn't let her go with her boyfriend, so she went off with him as soon as we got there, leaving me to take care of her boyfriend's date, who was totally oblivious to the fact I was eyeing up the homecoming king's ass," he said with a grin, making the others snicker. Greg giggled quietly to himself when he got a mental image of a teenaged Nick drooling over some guy's ass while a girl sat there, gossiping his ear off. Warrick swivelled around on his chair to look at Catherine, who was sitting on the counter, leaning against the wall.

"Anything good happen at your prom, Cath?" he asked. She snorted.

"If half the lacrosse team getting totally wasted and streaking counts as good, then yeah. I went with a football player. Tall, built, hot, but thick as two short planks. Made a nice piece of arm candy for the yearbook pictures, though," she mused.

"Did you get any prom nookie?" Greg asked in interest, taking a fry off the plate on his stomach and eating it.

"Of course. What about you? I'm sure you had a hot girl on your arm all night," Catherine teased. He winked at her, which looked a little strange upside down.

"Nah, I got ditched by my date, danced a little, then ended up getting off with my best friend's date," he replied, and four pairs of eyebrows shot up.

"No way! Wasn't your friend pissed?" Sara asked, and Greg attempted a shrug, taking a sip of his soda, which had a straw sticking out of the can so he didn't have to get up to drink it.

"Don't think so. She seemed pretty happy making out with the captain of the swim team," he replied casually. He remembered his prom night pretty well. Well, he remembered most of it; mainly the dancing, making fun of the homecoming queen, and groping an incredibly hot guy against the wall of the gym. That bit was fun. Nick's eyes went wide at his declaration, Warrick choked, Sara gaped a little and Catherine snickered.

"Your best friend was a girl?" Sara asked, and Greg nodded.

"So you got off with her male date?" Warrick clarified a little incredulously, and Greg nodded again, slower this time.

"I'm gay, who else am I gonna get off with?" he retorted, before blinking, looking to each of them in turn, and seeing all of them bar Catherine had shocked expressions on their faces. "Don't tell me you didn't know?" he asked, and Nick nodded.

"We had no idea," he replied, a slightly dazed look in his eyes that Greg couldn't quite decipher.

"I knew," Catherine piped up, and Greg frowned in confusion.

"How? I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious, but if these guys didn't get it, it obviously wasn't as blatant as I figured," he pointed out. She smirked.

"Caught you checking out Nick's ass a while back," she told him, and Greg blushed, Nick's eyes whipping around to meet his in surprise.

"You were checking out my ass?" he asked, shocked, and Greg nodded, winking at him. The confidence showing on his face was definitely not connecting with his stomach, which seemed to be housing a large amount of fidgeting small animals. He just hoped Nick waited until they weren't surrounded by people before telling him to back off, he didn't want the humiliation added onto the heartbreak. Still, he hid his rising panic, keeping his cocky smirk in place.

"Sure. It's a fine ass, Nicky, and as such, it deserves some eye-time," he told him, and it was Nick's turn to blush. Greg briefly mused that Nick looked cute when he was blushing.

"Aww, you've made him all embarrassed, G," Catherine ribbed playfully, and Nick ducked his head. Greg sighed, mentally cursing Catherine. Why couldn't she have kept quiet, and the whole thing could have been avoided! He ate the last two fries on his plate, before putting it on the arm of the couch.

"And that's my queue to leave," he announced, doing a sort of awkward backwards roll off the edge of the couch, landing in a crouch and keeping his head down as he left the room, going to take refuge in the ballistics lab. Bobby gave him an odd look, but he just shook his head, going to sit against the wall, his legs tucked up to his chest, arms folded on his knees and chin resting on his forearms. Bobby frowned when he took in Greg's position; he only did that when something was really upsetting him.

"What's up, G?" he asked in concern, and Greg let out a long breath before answering.

"Nick knows," he settled on eventually, and Bobby's eyebrows rose, a low whistle escaping from his lips.

"Damn. How'd he take it?" he asked, sitting down on the floor cross-legged beside his friend. All the lab rats – well, except Hodges – knew about Greg's feelings for Nick. Though Bobby was the only one he'd actually told, the others knew him too well, and guessed easily. Sometimes Greg thought the lab techs were more observant than the CSIs.

"I don't know, I didn't stay long enough to find out," he admitted, and Bobby couldn't help but chuckle, slinging an arm over Greg's shoulders and letting the younger man rest his head on his chest.

"Tell me what happened, Greggo," he told him, and Greg sighed, before relaying the conversation back to his friend.

.-.-.

Nick stared at the spot Greg had vacated dumbly, his brain still processing what had just happened. Greg…liked him? At least, he stared at his ass enough for Catherine to notice. Did that mean he liked him, or he just thought Nick had a hot ass?

"Aren't you gonna go after him, man?" Warrick's voice snapped him out of his daze, and he frowned.

"What?" he asked. Sara shook her head in exasperation.

"Just because we didn't see the way Greg looks at you, doesn't mean we missed the way you look at him. It's obvious you like him, and he just admitted to liking you back. So, aren't you gonna go after him before he thinks he just made an idiot of himself?" she prompted. Nick leant forward slightly, his hands on his knees.

"He said he likes my ass, not that he likes me," he pointed out, and Catherine scoffed.

"Come on, Nicky. I _did_ see the way Greg looks at you, and trust me, he does it a lot. He looks at you like he's in love with you, he has been for years. We all know you love him, so go find him, tell him that, and make both of you happy," she instructed firmly, and he looked at her, the hope evident in his eyes.

"He's in love with me?" he asked disbelievingly. Catherine nodded slowly.

"Yes, that's what I've been saying," she replied, as if talking to a small child.

"Greg Sanders is in love with me?" Nick repeated. Warrick sighed in exasperation at his friend's hopelessness.

"Yes, he's in love with you, but he's gonna think you don't like him if you don't go find him quick," he told him, and Nick's eyes widened as he stood up quickly. Catherine was glad he'd put the plate on the floor once he'd finished his meal, as it would have gone flying if it had been on his lap still.

"Excuse me a minute," he muttered distractedly, rushing out of the room, oblivious to the happy smiles on the faces of his three friends. He looked through all the glass walls of the labs, wondering where Greg would be. He wasn't in the DNA lab, which seemed the most logical place for him to be. He wasn't in trace, and Hodges shoved him out before he could ask. He wasn't in the AV lab, though Archie was, messing around with some computer program. "Arch, have you seen Greg?" he asked urgently. Archie frowned.

"Don't think so, why?" he asked curiously.

"I need to tell him I love him before he thinks I hate him," Nick replied absently, mentally running over possible hiding places. Archie brightened at that, a knowing grin on his face.

"In that case, he'll be hiding in Bobby's lab. Don't hurt him, Stokes, or you'll have all us lab rats on your ass, and we know how to hide a body," he warned. Nick nodded, a smile on his face now he knew where Greg was.

"Thanks, Arch, I won't," he assured him, before he was gone, darting to Bobby Dawson's lab. When he got there, he stopped in the doorway, seeing Bobby on the floor, his arms around Greg, who had a forlorn look on his face. Both of them looked up when Nick arrived, and while Bobby got a steely reserve in his eyes that threatened pain if he did anything to make Greg even more upset, Greg's were nervous and slightly fearful.

"What do you want, Stokes?" Bobby asked, his voice slightly clipped.

"I love you," Nick blurted out, and Bobby's eyebrows shot up.

"Excuse me?" he asked. Nick shook his head at the confused ballistics tech.

"Not you, him. Greg. I love you, Greg," he repeated. Now he wasn't filled with adrenalin and hope, his voice was starting to shake with nerves. What if Catherine and Warrick were just messing with him, and he'd just made an idiot of himself. Greg was gaping, now, and Bobby was smiling slightly as he disentangled himself from Greg and stood up.

"I'll leave you two alone, then. And keep in mind the amount of guns I have down here, Nick," he added casually, though Nick heard the underlying threat in the southerner's voice. Nick nodded, his eyes not leaving Greg, moving to the side to let Bobby leave the room. Greg was still gaping, and Nick moved to sit opposite him, eyeing him tentatively.

"I meant it. Mean it. I love you," he told him quietly. Greg frowned, perplexed.

"I'm confused," he murmured, and Nick smiled slightly.

"What's there to be confused about? I'm in love with you, Greg, I have been for years. And according to Cath, you love me, too. If she's wrong, then I just made a total fool of myself, so tell me so I can go drink myself into oblivion and hope I forget I ever said anything," he replied. Greg was silent for a long time, and Nick gulped, feeling his stomach clench as the silence dragged on. He was just making to stand and leave, head ducked and fiercely blinking back the tears that were trying to escape, when Greg's hand grabbed his wrist.

"Why?" he asked simply, and Nick frowned.

"Because if I remember I said it, I'll remember that you said no, and I'd rather live with the pain of loving you but not saying anything than the pain of knowing you don't love me back," he replied, but Greg shook his head.

"Not what I meant. Why me? What makes me so special?" he asked, slightly morosely. Nick raised an eyebrow.

"You're...you're funny, and quirky, and completely crazy at times, and you're full of energy, you're caring, and you're gorgeous, and I could keep going for hours if you don't stop me. You're just… you. Do you really not know how special you are?" he asked, his voice soft as he spilled everything he had, hoping he wasn't setting himself up for heartbreak. Greg went quiet again, though his hand was still clasped loosely around Nick's wrist, and as his head was bowed, Nick couldn't see his eyes, couldn't see what he was thinking or feeling. "Say something, Greggo. Please say something," he breathed, eyes pleading. Greg didn't make any noise, and Nick looked at the floor, downcast, his eyes stinging. He got onto one knee to stand up, but Greg's hand tightened on his wrist.

"She's not wrong," he said, so quiet Nick almost didn't hear him. The Texan's breath hitched, and he slid a finger under Greg's chin, tilting his head up to look him in the eyes. Greg, seeing the emotion in Nick's chocolate brown eyes, steeled his nerves and spoke again. "Cath's not wrong. I love you," he repeated, more confidently than the first time. Nick's eyes went wide as he processed the sentence, before he broke into a huge grin and leant forward, pressing his lips to Greg's. After a few moments where Greg was too stunned to do anything but sit there, he started to kiss back, his hand sliding from Nick's wrist around to the back of the other man's head, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Nick was seeing metaphorical fireworks explode behind his eyelids as Greg's tongue prodded against his lips, slipping between them. Nick's arms snaked around the younger man's waist as they kissed, but eventually, they had to break for air. When they parted, Greg rested his forehead against Nick's, panting slightly. Nick grinned at him.

"Damn, I should've done that years ago," he murmured, and Greg chuckled. Suddenly, a throat was cleared, and the two looked up, blushing darkly when they saw Grissom standing there, having come to ask Bobby for results. He had an eyebrow raised and was observing them calmly.

"I'm happy you both finally saw what you were missing, but could you please take this somewhere where there isn't glass walls? You're distracting the others," he stated, causing the two men to look past him to see half the lab, including a smug looking Catherine and a knowingly smirking Bobby, staring at them with grins on their faces. The two men felt their cheeks grow hot as they stood up, fingers intertwined, and attempted to look dignified as they walked through the crowd of their friends, getting around the corner before running as fast as they could to Nick's car to…explore their new relationship.


End file.
